Lima Nightlife
One of the best ways of soaking in the atmosphere during your visit to Lima is to enjoy the local culinary specialities.
Comida criolla is the name for traditional Peruvian cuisine. In 1999, the New York Times said, "Peruvian Cuisine: Ready to Take On the World" and many who visit hold this to be true. Heavily influenced by geography, dishes contain plentiful amounts of seafood and chiles; particularly in Lima, where coast and desert meet.
For those on the hunt for these authentic flavours, they can be reliably found in one of Lima's Cebicherias. These small restaurants usually specialise in fresh seafood and form part of the city's local everyday culture ? a sure sign of quality.
Their names comes from the dish Cebiche (also Ceviche or Seviche), which many consider to be Peru's national dish. Raw fish are marinated in citrus juice, seasoned with chillies, onions, garlic and salt and served with cold vegetables such as sweet potatoes or corn-on-the-cob.
The best place for restaurants and entertainment at a civilised pace is the district of Miraflores, which houses of fine cuisine share with galleries and theatres.
Lima's nightlife is perhaps the greatest reason of all to pay a visit to this part of Peru. If you are not sure where to begin for your frolicks, Barranco is the most lively place to start. This old town-style neighbourhood includes the municipal square and is the home of not only some attractive 19th century architecture, but also the city's contemporary arts and evening entertainment.
Music is, of course, a major staple of the after-dark entertainment and comes in wide array of shapes and sizes.
Folk music, travellers will be pleased to hear, is plentiful and easy to happen upon. One of the best known of local styles is Peruvian Creole. Its combination of European musical forms with native Peruvian music's structural freedom, alongside the addition of Spanish and African rhythms and instruments, makes this a sound that captures the essence of this city's diversity and composite nature.
Jazz is also very popular in the city, which has its own international jazz association, the Asociacion Internacional Jazz Peru. Jazz clubs are several and welcoming, particularly during the annual Lima Jazz Festival.
The festival is a fairly unique event, in that it concentrates hard on the formation of the Peruvian 'jazz movement'. Artists attending the festival are accommodated together in a hotel, regardless of their musical status or renown, the idea being to foster and encourage informal exchanges and jam sessions.
"In many ways, Festival Jazz en Lima provides the 'jazz atmosphere' associated with jazz music of decades past and New York City's 52nd Street," said the organisers.
"In an era where many jazz festivals have become gigantic commercial enterprises, Festival Jazz en Lima still manages to attract the greatest jazz artists in the world on the basis of artistic integrity and interest in musical and cultural exchange."
In addition to your meal, theatre visit, live music entertainment and enjoyment of the bars, or penas, a trip to the Sheraton Lima Casino will surely top off your stay. Described as "discreet", this venue hosts a variety of ways to part with your cash, such as roulette, poker and slot machines, and is open until dawn.
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Nightlife and Eating & Drinking
